OneShot Cinema
by purewanderlust
Summary: Collection of Danny Phantom oneshots! Angst, fluff and other stuff. Please R&R!
1. Best Friends Forever

**Best Friends Forever**

**Description: The story of how Danny met Sam and she met him. One-shot. My very first one-shot ever! Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: As sad as is, I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does.**

**Dedication: To all the DxS shippers out there. You guys rock!**

A sleek black Mercedes pulled into the parking lot of Amity Park preschool and a woman climbed out of the back seat. She was a tall, auburn haired woman with expensive looking clothes and jewelry. She picked up a little girl out of the backseat and stood her on the ground.

The child clung to her mother's skirt and looked out at the other four and five year-olds. She was small, even for her age, with shoulder length black hair in matching pigtails. She wore a pair of black overalls and a short-sleeved purple shirt under them. Her mother liked her to wear pink, but she hated pink, and told her so.

The mother finished registration and pried her daughter's tiny hands from her dress. "Bye, Sammy." She said, "I'll be back to get you after work, okay?" She got back into the car and it drove off, leaving Sammy, who preferred being called Sam, standing alone at the edge of the grass. She didn't like being in new places, why did her dad's job always have to move them around?

She uncertainly went to the empty sandbox and starting filling a big yellow bucket full of sand. A shadow fell over her and she looked up. A pretty Spanish girl wearing a pink t-shirt and blue jean skirt was watching her, with an angry expression on her face.

"That's _my_ bucket." The girl said pointedly. Sam started to hand it to her, but she backed away. "I don't want it now that you've touched it!"

"Why?" asked Sam, curiously.

"Because," said the other girl as if it were obvious, "You're a freak!"

"Fine!" Sam snapped, her dislike for the girl growing with each passing second. She threw down the bucket and went and sat against the wall of the building.

She stayed there for the rest of the morning play time, and watched the other kids see-sawing and trying to see who could get the highest on the swings. No one came near her. The girl, whose name she'd figured out was Paulina, had told everyone that she was weird and not to talk to her. Sam didn't care; if they were all as mean as Paulina, she didn't want to be friends with them.

There were, though, two boys she was interested in. One was black and wearing a red baseball cap and the other had black hair and a shockingly blue eyes. They were playing ghosts and chasing each other around the jungle-gym. She watched them for a good part of the morning, until a teacher blew a whistle and they all went inside for snacks.

Again, during snack time, Sam was alone, sitting by herself in the corner, eating apple slices. Paulina seemed to lord over all the rest of the children and any who might've talked to her before, definitely wouldn't now. Everyone finished their apple slices and they went to nap time.

Nap time was the standard mats-on-the-floor, lights-out policy that every preschool has. They all curled up on little red and blue mats and the teachers told them to close their eyes. This worked for some, and they were asleep instantly. Others like Sam, and on the other side of the room, Paulina and her lackey, a big blonde boy named Dash were wide awake, thinking or plotting.

After about ten minutes of staring at the ceiling, Sam began to feel a little bit drowsy. She barely even noticed the white shape coming towards her.

"Boo!" it cried, jumping out from under the nearest table. Sam shrieked and jumped up, backing into the wall.

"It's a ghost!" she screamed, remembering the game those boys had been playing earlier. One of those very boys, the raven haired one, tackled the "ghost" that was trying to grab her and they both tumbled to the floor.

"I caught a ghost!" he announced proudly to the room at large. With the entire ruckus, none of the children were asleep now. The teachers, who thought they were, had gone into the other room for some coffee and didn't here all the noise.

"I'm not a ghost, Fenton!" yelled the figure, pushing the other little boy off him and pulling the sheet off his head. It was Dash. He glared at the littler boy, who glared right back; it was obvious there was some ill-will here already.

"Don't be so mean Dash!" the boy told him.

"Make me!" retorted Dash, pushing the other boy. "She's a weirdo anyway!"

"She is not!" the boy defended. Dash pushed him again and he pushed the bigger boy away, without thinking about it. In an instant, Dash had lifted him off the floor and was about to hit him. The boy kicked Dash and they fell to the ground again, hitting and kicking each other. A teacher, having finally come in to check on them, grabbed the two boys and forced them apart.

"Danny!" she scolded. "Dash. You both know better!" Danny had a bloody nose and Dash a busted lip. She sighed and put them in timeout on opposite sides of the room and the rest of the group went to indoor playtime. Sam sat down, ready to play alone again, but someone sat beside her. It was the other little boy, Danny's friend. He handed her a G.I. Joe and smiled.

"Hi." He said, "I'm Tucker. And that's Danny." He added as an afterthought, looking over at the boy, who was giving Dash angry looks. Sam almost laughed; even though she couldn't possibly realize how long lasting this feud would be.

"I'm Sam." She replied, smiling. Danny got out of timeout and came over to them.

"You want to play with us?" he asked, grinning infectiously. His bright blue eyes sparkled when he smiled. She nodded happily, somehow knowing, even at four years old, that this was the start of a life-long friendship.


	2. Ghostbusters

**Description: In the fourth grade, Danny, Tucker and Sam encounter their first ghost, after watching the movie "Ghostbusters".**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own "Ghostbusters", some random person I don't remember does.**

**Dedication: To all the super reviewers of "Ghosthunting", sorry, but I have writer's block on that chapter, but it will be up by the end of the week if it kills me.**

**Ghostbusters**

"Danny, honey, your father and I bought you a movie." Ten year-old Danny Fenton flew into the room like a bullet, followed by his two best friends, Tucker Foley and Sam Manson. He grinned up at his mother, his bright blue eyes sparkling.

"What movie?" he asked.

"A movie about hunting ghosts, of course!" replied his father enthusiastically. Danny's shoulders slumped; it couldn't the new movie, "Ghostbusters", the only ghost movie he wanted to see; it had just come out in theaters and every kid at Amity Park Elementary was talking about it. Well, everybody but Danny, Sam and Tucker; their parents wouldn't take them to the theater. Sam acted like she could care less, but Danny could tell she really wanted to see it.

"It's surprisingly accurate on methods of catching ghosts." Maddie continued, "And it has good special effects; the ghosts look almost real." She handed him the box containing the video and his face cracked into a wide grin. Printed on the cover, in big bold letters, was the title: "Ghostbusters".

"How did you get this?" he asked excitedly. "It's still in theaters."

"We're subscribed to 'Ecto-magizine'." Jack answered. "They send us everything ghost-related as soon as it's available." Danny and his friends exchanged eager smiles; for once in his life, having ghost hunters for parents was an advantage. Danny popped the video into the VCR and turned on the television.

For the next hour and a half or so, Sam, Tucker and Danny sat and watched the movie with rapt attention. At one point, Jack and Maddie stuck their heads in to check on them.

"Aww, Jack, he's going to be just like you!" she whispered.

"Shhhhhh!" all three kids hissed unanimously. After a quick apology, Maddie and her husband ducked out of the room, pleased that their son was so interested in ghosts. The movie ended shortly after and the credits rolled. Like you would expect, none of the ten year-olds bothered to watch those.

"That was so cool!" Tucker exclaimed.

"I have to admit, that was really good." Sam conceded. Danny gave her his big smile and she returned it. Unnoticed by the kids, as they were going over the highlights of the movie, a ghost, a real live (well, dead) ghost had floated through the wall into the room.

The ghost was blue with red eyes and wearing overalls. He didn't seem very threatening, but you never can tell.

"Beware!" he cried, flying out in front of them. Tucker jumped, but, other than that, they showed no fear of the ghost.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Danny asked, crossing his arms.

"I am the BOX GHOST!" shouted the specter. "Fear me!'

"Why?" wondered Sam, raising an eyebrow skeptically. In answer, the Box Ghost raised his arms and the big TV box by the door; that Jack still hadn't taken out to the dumpster, flew across the room and dropped, upside down, onto Tucker.

"Oh, so scary!" Sam said, pretending to be frightened.

"Do not mock me!" he yelled, angrily. The movie box flung itself against her head.

"Ow! Hey!" She glared at him for a moment than grabbed the box and threw it back at him. It went through him and landed on the floor near the back wall. She spotted a green and white thermos and picked it up. She knew it was some kind of ghosthunting weapon, but not what kind."Danny, what's this do?"

"It's supposed to suck ghosts in it.' He explained. "But my mom doesn't know if it works yet."

"Then test it!" she responded, tossing it to him. "Catch!" He caught and pulled the lid off. He pointed it at the Box Ghost and pressed the little blue button on the side. A beam of white light shot out and sucked the ghost inside. Danny clapped the lid back on just as his parents strode into the room.

"What was all that noise?" his mom asked. Danny held the thermos behind his back and shared a secret smile with his friends.

"We were just playing 'Ghostbusters'."


	3. The Death of Kimberly McLane

**Description: The story of a girl who became the ghost zone's biggest star.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, that's Butch Hartman's luck.**

**The Death of Kimberly McLane**

Kimber watched her reflection in the mirror as she carefully drew a line from the corner of her eye with black eyeliner. She went to the other eye and drew a swirl that reached to her cheekbone. As a finishing touch, she added bright purple lip gloss and smiled at her reflection. Now she was ready to go to the school Halloween party.

Sixteen year-old Kimber McLane was by far one of the prettiest girls in her class at Casper High. She had rich red curls that fell to her shoulders and piercing green eyes that looked like they could see right through you.

"Kimberly!" a voice floated up the stairs. "Hurry down, your friends are here!" Kimber grimaced at the use of her full name, but grabbed her guitar and headed down the stairs, two at a time, nonetheless. Her friends, Kitty, Sarah and Johnny beamed at her from the bottom of the stairs. Creative and artsy Kitty was dressed up as a biker chick, blonde Sarah was, predictably, dressed as a princess. Johnny, Kitty's boyfriend, was in costume as a biker too, complete with a long leather jacket.

Kimber herself was dressed as a rock star, the only thing she'd ever wanted to be. Her pants were tight black bellbottoms and she wore a midriff shirt with only one shoulder strap. She carried her purple and blue electric guitar on her back with a strap covered in flames. Her fire-colored hair was pulled into a high ponytail on the top of her head.

Her mother appeared at the foot of the stairs, her lips in a tight line. Kimber knew she was in trouble now. Her mom hated the idea of her daughter as a rock idol and wanted her to go to nursing school, just like she had.

"I thought you were going as a ghost." Her mother said, not bothering to keep the accusation out of her voice. Kimber distinctly saw her friends exchange uneasy glances and felt irritated that her mom had to be such a pain.

"I changed my mind." She replied, offhandedly. Her mom's hands went to her hips and Kimber winced inwardly; that was her 'angry pose' that she went into right before they got into a big fight.

"You can't go as a rock star!" she told the teen. Kimber knew she shouldn't argue, but she couldn't help it.

"Why not?" she asked definitely. "You want me to go as a nurse?" Oops. Now her mom was _really_ mad.

"Kimberly Ann McLane!" she snapped, "You go change right now or you're not going to that party!"

"No!" Kimber shouted back. "Why can't I ever do what I want to?"

"Young lady, you are just being rebellious!" her mom yelled. "You know I don't want you to be a rock singer!"

"Why not?" demanded Kimber. They both seemed to have forgotten completely the presence of her friends and were glaring at each other.

"Because you'll either be tricked or never get a record deal!" her mother cried exasperatedly. "It's not a suitable profession!"'

"Can't get a record deal, huh?" Kimber almost screamed. "Well, for your information, I have a record deal and I'm going in tomorrow to record my song! So there!" She strode to the door and yanked it open, stopping fora split second to give her mother a dirty look. "AndI hate being called Kimberly!"She went out to Johnny's sports car, followed by her friends. Her mother just watched without trying to stop her.

Kimber slammed the front passenger and sat there, fuming. This was the worst fight she had ever had with her mom. It really hurt her that her mother didn't think that she could find a record deal.

_Well, I did, didn't I?_ She thought angrily. _And I get to start on a CD tomorrow, she can't stop me._ It occurred to her that the car was moving and she looked up. Johnny was driving, looking straight ahead, the other two girls were sitting in the backseat, absolutely silent. Kimber felt bad about her outburst now.

"I'm sorry about that, guys…" she mumbled, but Johnny stopped her.

"Don't worry about it. I would've been mad too." He gave her a rare smile, and she felt better.

"So, have you thought of an artist name to go by?" questioned Sarah in her soft voic, trying to cheer her up.. Kimber shook her head; that was a problem she had been working on, but she still had no ideas.

"I have an idea!" Kitty exclaimed excitedly. "You could be Ember!" They all looked at her and she rolled her eyes. "You know, it rhymes and your hair looks like fire." They were all quiet, letting the idea sink in.

"Hey." She said slowly. "That's not a bad idea! You rock, Kitty!"

"I know."

Suddenly, a truck on the other side of the road swerved and hit the semi in front of it. They all screamed as the semi crashed into the side of the car, flipping it.

At Kimber's house, the phone rang. Once, twice; it was halfway through the third ring when Victoria McLane answered it. She let out a faint cry and the receiver clattered to the floor.  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been exactly one year since her daughter and her friends had been killed in a car accident by a drunk driver when Victoria got a call from the hospital to come in early; they needed her to work the night shift. After leaving the house, she picked up a single, long-stemmed purple rose at the supermarket; thinking of stopping by Kimber's grave on her way to work.

As she drove down the same road her daughter had been killed on, Victoria dug through the dash compartment, looking for spare change to buy a soda from the hospital vending machines. A small slip of pale blue paper fell out and onto the seat. Curiously, Victoria picked in up and unfolded it as she parked on the edge of the cemetery.

It was Kimber's handwriting. She read the lyrics to the song as she walked slowly to her daughter's grave. She looked up and saw a small band on the back of a flatbed trailer, surrounded by a crowd of teenagers. She wondered what a band would be having a concert in a graveyard for.The lead singer's skin was deathly pale, but her bright green eyes seemed oddly familiar. The girl opened her mouth and started singing.

_Ember, you will remember._

_Ember, one thing remains._

Victoria looked down at the sheet of paper in her hand. The lyrics were almost identical! She looked up at the familar eyes again and her hand started shaking.

_Ember, so warm and tender._

The girl looked straight at Victoria and smiled in recognition. She stopped singing for a fraction of a second. "See, mom?" Victoria dropped the rose and the lyrics and ran, the melodyechoing hauntinglyin her mind, knowing she had just seen her daughter's ghost.

_You will remember my name._


	4. Someone

**Someone**

**Description: A nightmare prompts Sam to tell Danny her worst fear and her true feelings for him. A little fluff. One-shot. Please R&R. **

**Dedication: This is dedicated to all the fans of "Ghosthunting" because you guys rock my socks off! A new chapter will be up tomorrow, possibly tonight, if I finish typing it, promise!**

Danny Phantom crashed to the ground, landing face down on the sidewalk. White hair became ebony and blue eyes green as his strength gave out. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. He coughed and red-black blood spattered the grey concrete.

"Danny!" cried Sam, rushing to him. She dropped to her knees next to him and touched his shoulder tentatively, resisting the urge to scream as he spat out another mouthful of blood. This was by far the worst fight he had gotten himself into. He looked awful; a purple bruise covered most of his left arm and his hair was matted with blood. Plasmius' newfound powers were too much for the fifteen year-old boy.

"We have to get you to a hospital or--or--or something!" Said Sam bordering on hysteria. Danny shook his head slowly.

"I have…to get…Plasmius." He panted.

"He'll kill you!" she practically shouted. Danny ignored this and struggled to his feet, clutching his side and wincing in pain; Sam wouldn't be surprised if he had a few broken ribs too. He tried to "go ghost", without success; the effort took even more out of him. He slumped against the trunk of a tree and slid to its base.

"I think he already has." He murmured, his eyelids flickering. Sam clenched her fists so tightly; she could feel her fingernails digging into her palms.

"Don't say that!" she protested, her eyes starting to water, nonetheless. He was fading fast and they both knew it. Sam was going to have to sit here and watch her best friend die.

"Tell my parents…" he gasped, his breathing becoming more labored. "About my ghost powers."

"You're not going to die!" she whispered fiercely, her eyes sparkling with tears.

"Sam." He said softly. "Please." She looked into his darkening blue eyes and nodded involuntarily and let out a strangled sob. Danny took her hand and smiled weakly. "Don't cry, Sam." He closed his eyes and was gone.  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam Manson awoke with a terrified scream. She started to cry into her comforter as the light went on in the hall. Her mother's face appeared in the doorway and she hurriedly dried her tears.

"What's the matter, Sammy?" she asked, putting on her "concerned face".

"Nothing." Sam replied, forcing a grin as fake as her mother's concern. "Just a nightmare."

As soon as her mother had vanished and the light flicked off, Sam slid out from under the red comforter and crossed to her window and looked out. A full moon was rising over Amity Park, washing the town in a silvery moon-glow. But even the beauty of the night sky couldn't distract her right now.

This was the third time she had waked from the same dream, screaming for her best friend. Because of mounting piles of homework that related to being a sophomore, Sam and Tucker had been spending less time helping Danny ghost hunt and more time doing quadratic functions and studying Ancient Greece. Sam hated it. She would rather fail every class than leave Danny to fend for himself. Unfortunately, her parents didn't feel the same way. She was under threat of another restraining order against him, if she was caught with Danny before her homework was done any night of the week.

But as bad as abandoning her best friend to battle malevolent spirits was, it was nothing compared to realizing her true feelings for him. Sam had suddenly fallen head-over-heels for the bright eyed little boy she'd known since pre-K. Now she was not only worried about his safety, but what he might say if she ever got up the courage to tell him how she felt.

She shook her head; she couldn't tell him that; if he didn't feel the same, it would ruin their friendship. That was the last thing she wanted to be responsible for.

A light tapping on the window brought her to her senses. Danny was floating outside the window, wearing a nervous grin. She pulled the window open and he flew in and landed, turning back to his human form.

"What are you doing up so late?" she asked him. He smirked, obnoxiously.

"I could ask you the same thing." He remarked. She brushed away the comment and planted her hands on her hips.

"Well?"

"I fly when I have a lot on my mind." He said, becoming suddenly serious. Sam knew there was something more to it than that; his eyes were oddly bright and he kept rubbing the back of his neck. Though she had no idea what it was, she could find out; Danny was a lousy liar.

"That's the only reason you showed up here at two in the morning?" she questioned innocently.

"No---I mean yes!" he sputtered. She grinned triumphantly. But her victory was short-lived.

"Then what are _you_ doing up this early?" he countered. "Watching the grass grow?" She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again; they knew each other far too well.

"I was thinking." She defended.

"What about?" he asked swiftly. She winced, as if the simple question were a blow. She didn't want Danny to know she was having nightmares about his death, and definitely not that she liked him. He must've seen something in her eyes, because he came closer, his eyes softening. "What's the matter, Sam?" She shook her head and sat down on the edge of the bed. He sat next to her and gave her a concerned look, with one big difference from her mother's: he meant it.

"I don't want to talk about it." She muttered, avoiding his eyes. She hated the concern in his baby blue eyes.

"I've been your best friend since before we were in school and now you don't want to talk to me?" he said, trying, unsuccessfully, to keep the hurt out of his voice. Sam immediately felt bad, but she still didn't say anything. A silent tear slid down her cheek.

"Don't cry, Sam." He pleaded.

"Don't say that!" she said sharply, remembering her dream. He looked surprised, but only for a moment. Then he got up and crossed to the window.

"I better go." He said softly. He transformed into a ghost and was about to fly out the window, when Sam grabbed his wrist.

"Wait." She said, "I don't want you to leave." She pulled him away from the window and looked at him imploringly. He sighed and went back to human. They sat back down and Danny looked at Sam attentively.

"I had a nightmare—about you dying." She started in a shaky voice. "It scares me." She gave him a troubled look.

"I'm not going to die, Sam." He consoled. She still looked close to tears. "Besides, you could replace me if I did die." He added, trying to make light of the situation.

"I could never replace you, Danny Fenton!" she whispered harshly, her face grave. "Never think that."

"I was joking," he assured her. "I don't really think that."

"I'm scared, Danny." She said in a hushed voice. "You are always fighting ghosts and you're all alone. What if you get hurt or something?"

"I'm not going to, I promise.' He said, confusedly. She had always been worried about him getting hurt, but somehow this was bigger than that.

"You can't promise that." She responded in her normal pessimistic fashion.

"What do you want me to do, then?" he said tiredly. "I can't stop fighting ghosts."

"I know." She replied, biting her lip. She started picking at a hole in the blanket, not looking at him. Danny was silent for a long moment, trying to figure out what Sam was thinking. Finally, he spoke again.

"Where is all this coming from, Sam?" She looked up, almost unwillingly, into his eyes. His breath caught as her stared back into her amethyst ones; he had never realized how pretty her eyes were before.

"Everything is changing.'' She muttered. And it was. Not just her feelings for Danny, but her classes, her teachers, her parents, the ghosts and (if she'd known it) Danny's feelings for her. "I guess it stresses me out."

"Is all change bad?" he asked cautiously. He _had_ come here to tell her something, but he wasn't sure if he should now. If she didn't like change she certainly wouldn't like what he wanted so badly to tell her.

"No!" she practically shouted. Then she calmed down. "Not _all_ of it."

"What isn't?" Danny wondered, his curiosity getting the better of him. But Sam seemed incapable of saying more. "Come on, Sam!" She didn't answer.

"Well, then I guess I won't tell you what I came here to tell you." He told her, knowing exactly what response he would get. Her head shot up and she looked at him, her a questioning glance in her eyes.

"Danny!" He shook his head stubbornly. She grimaced at him and smiled back as sweetly as he could. Her shoulders sagged. "Fine." She said her voice flat.

"I really care about----someone." She started. Danny felt his heart sinking.

"You mean you like 'someone'?" he asked. She nodded slightly. "As in, _like _like?" She nodded again.

"And I'm afraid someone doesn't like me." She continued.

"That's how sure you are someone does not like you?" he asked. She shrugged. "That you won't ask them?"

"I don't think someone acts like they do." She answered, starting to feel anxious.

"Who is 'someone'?" Danny finally asked. Her face reddened and she didn't respond. How was she supposed to figure out if "someone" liked her back without reveling to him that he was "someone"?

"Well," Danny said, getting an idea. "If it's any consolation I lo---like someone that I don't know likes me too." She observed him closely.

"And you don't tell someone because you don't want to ruin your friendship?" she asked.

"Is that why you don't ask your someone?" he returned. She nodded for a third time. "Don't you think it's better to take that chance than wonder forever?" She knew he was right. He smiled at her and got up to go, but she called after him.

"Hey, someone!"

Danny turned to look at her, a startled look on his face. He had not expected _that._ He looked at her nervous face and tried to get his thoughts in order. Sam's face fell when he didn't respond, but he was suddenly standing next to her, pulling her to her feet. "You called, someone?"

Sam broke in to a wide grin and fell into Danny's arms. She looked into his eyes and suddenly found her lips pressed to his. They pulled away from each other after a moment and Danny looked at her expectantly.

"Okay.' She conceded. "Taking chances is definitely a good thing."


	5. Haunted

**Haunted**

**Description: The haunted house Danny, Sam and Tucker go through for Halloween is anything but your average haunted house. One-shot.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny phantom, Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Evanescence's song "Haunted" either, I just borrowed the title.**

**Dedication: To the awesome people who reviewed "Someone". You guys all get cookies!**

"Danny!" Sam yelled up the stairs. "You better hurry or we're leaving without you!" Danny ran down the steps, two at a time, to where his friends were waiting at the bottom. Tucker and Danny had pooled their money to buy tickets to the new haunted house for Sam's birthday-slash-Halloween, which happened to be on the same day. They started out the door, but stopped when they heard Maddie calling after them.

"Honey, wait!" she shouted. She came into the room, carrying the Specter Deflector. "You need to wear this; the ghosts are much more active on Halloween than any other night." She tried to hand it to Danny, who backed away.

"No, really, it's okay." He said, ducking as she tried again to catch him with it.

"I honestly don't understand you, Danny!" she said, exasperatedly, putting her hands on her hips. "You'll be in danger from ghost attacks." She lunged at him again and her slipped under Sam's arm and stood behind her.

"Mrs. Fenton, the haunted house we're going to, uh, has a ghost shield around it." Sam expertly lied. "And we wouldn't want you to be without some protection here, if you decide to go out."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" she asked, breaking into a smile. "Have fun kids!" As they left the house, Sam winked at Danny and grinned mischievously. They trooped down the road as the sun began to set and the haunted house slowly came into sight.

It sat atop the tallest hill in all of Amity Park, on the edge of town. It was three stories high and looked like it had once been a magnificent stately mansion. Now, though, its paint was grey with age and peeling. Several of the windows were broken and you could almost feel it creaking. They hurried up the hill and by the time they reached the top they were panting.

The whole school had turned out, including the new boy, Matt something or another. His hair was long and dirty blonde and he had creepy black eyes, like tunnels. He wore all black, like Sam and didn't eat meat. Sam really liked him and hung out with him occasionally. She had even gone to the most recent school dance with him. Danny, however, didn't like him. He wasn't sure why, but Sam's constant talk of Matt really annoyed him. Sam spotted him, about to go in and beamed, waving at him.

"Hi Matt!"' she said, as he came over to join them in the line. "I didn't know you were coming."

"You didn't tell me you were coming either." He teased. Sam laughed, but Danny just gritted his teeth.

"Danny and Tucker bought tickets for my birthday." She explained. "You want to go through with us?"

"Okay." He shrugged.

_No, not okay. _Danny wanted to say, but remained silent. They reached the front of line and one by one handed their tickets over.

"Welcome to Monster Mansion." Said the ticket taker. He grinned, showing his fake vampire teeth and swept his cloak to the side. "Not your average haunted house." They walked through the rotten wood door and were met by a sign reading: 'Beware. Go back while you still can.' They passed it and went into the first room.

It was a bedroom, by the looks of it, and completely empty of scary creatures. Then, the lights went out and organ music started playing. A strobe light flashed on and off rapidly and "monsters" slithered out from under the bed and out of the closet. Sam shrieked and grabbed Matt's hand and Danny felt a surge of anger he couldn't explain. Sam was never scared of these things before, so why now?

The next room the passed through was a dining room with a "dead body" on the table. It sat up and looked at them and Sam screamed again. Danny frowned and went ahead. By the time they caught up with him, he was at the top of the stairs that lead down to the basement.

"What's wrong, Danny?" Tucker asked, noticing the surliness.

"Nothing." Danny growled, still watching Sam flirt with Matt. "Nothing at all."

By the time the reached the basement, Danny's anger had grown. Sam was flirting mercilessly with Matt and, at the same time screaming in fake terror and giggling like the preppy, popular girls she so despised. The Frankenstein on the lab table sat up stiffly and Sam whispered something in the goth boy's ear. Danny felt like he had snapped in two and then, suddenly all the lights exploded, fragments of glass scattering over the teens. The next few moments were some of intense confusion.

"That's not supposed to happen!" exclaimed one of the workers from near where the table should have been. Tucker tried to back up the stairs and only succeeded in knocking Matt and Sam to the floor. Danny felt someone brush against him and his ghost sense went off. _Not here, _he thought._ Not now!_

"Danny?" someone asked.

"Sam?"

"Valerie."

"Oh. When did you get here?"

"Ouch! That's my foot!" yelped Tucker.

"Sorry." Matt answered. Then…

"Quiet!" Sam snapped. "We need to find the door; it's too dark to stay here." But suddenly, a pale green light came from the corner of the room, revealing the ridiculous scene that had ensued and giving off plenty of light.

The Frankenstein guy was lying on the floor, in a tangled heap with Valerie, who quickly stowed a strange looking gun in her pocket. Tucker was on his hands and knees near the stairs, looking like he was ready to bolt. Only Sam, Danny and Matt were still standing.

The green glow in the corner intensified and formed a shape. It was the most frightening ghost any of them had ever seen. At least seven feet tall, with glistening fangs hanging from its jaws. His white hair was wild and his eyes were blood red and looked pure evil. The Frankenstein worker squeaked in fear and passed out cold. Danny backed into the dark corner and tried to go ghost. It didn't happen, he couldn't do it. The ghost approached them and the door at the top of the stairs swung shut with a loud _bang_ and the locked clicked. The ghost lunged forward and snatched…Sam. It lifted her off the ground and she gave a scream of pure, real terror.

Danny jumped forward to grab her, but Valerie stopped him.

"That thing will rip you apart!" she shouted.

"But what about Sam?" Matt let his breath out through his teeth in a hiss. Danny turned to him. "Back me up here!"

But Matt was doing something else. His pupils were dilating into tiny pinpricks and his skin was paling to greenish yellow. He had transformed into a ghost, but not just any ghost. He was a soul sucker; a ghost who needs to feed on human souls to survive. Danny had first encountered a soul sucker only the day before Matt had appeared in town. Danny resisted the urge to bang his head on the wall. Duh! Matt was the ghost Danny had not successfully sucked into the thermos. They seduced their prey with perfect charisma and then took their souls. Suddenly, Sam's odd behavior seemed a lot more explainable.

"You were going to suck out Sam's soul!" Danny cried, angrily. The creature leered at him.

"I still will." It growled. "As soon as you let go of her." The strange remark hung in the air for a moment and no one spoke. Then an absurd though crossed Danny's mind: _That other ghost was him._ Matt grinned, as if reading his thoughts.

_"That's right." _His answer wasn't out loud, though, it was like _he_ was hearing Matt's thoughts.

_"What do you mean that's me?" _He asked, unsure how he was able to do this. _"I'm right here!"_

_"But you were so jealous that your ghost half separated itself from you to solve the problem."_

"I wasn't jealous!" Danny yelled, realizing too late that he was speaking out loud. Valerie and Tucker were both looking at him. "Uhhh…"

_"Right." _Responded Matt sarcastically. _"Everyone knows halfas have that problem. In times of serious emotional strain, they tend to separate, the ghost half become a physical version of the emotion. That's your jealously."_

_"Well, if it's me, I can control it right?" _Danny said, an idea coming to mind. As if worked by a remote, the other ghost dropped Sam and lunged at Matt.

Taken by surprise, the soul sucker wasn't able to dodge the first blow and he slammed into the wall so hard a crack split up the solid rock. He recovered quickly, though, and shot a blast of red energy at Danny's ghost. Danny tried to block it unsuccessfully. He felt the blow connect with his ghost as if it had hit him too and they both crashed to the ground.

"Danny!" Sam cried running over. "Did he hit you too?" She didn't understand what was going on. A shadow fell over the both of them and she looked up. Matt grabbed her and a purplish light started draining out of her body. She screamed in pain and then went limp. Matt threw her carelessly to the side and turned to make his escape. He found his way blocked by Danny's ghost, who had doubled in size, and Valerie, who had pulled out a weapon similar to the Fenton Foamer.

Danny was finding it hard to concentrate on controlling his ghost half. Sam was lying a few feet away, not breathing. As he stared at her in horror, his ghost suddenly attacked Matt with such viciousness that he didn't stand a chance. The soul sucker dropped, and Tucker reacted, pulling a spare thermos out of his pocket and sucking it inside.

Danny felt himself snap back together and blinked a couple times to clear his head. A purple glow illuminated Sam momentarily and she stirred. Danny helped her to her feet. She suddenly pressed her lips to his and realized, with satisfaction, that he was kissing her back. Then they both pulled away, conscious of the other two teens watching them. Tucker pumped his fist into the air and Valerie muttered "About time," under her breath. Sam's face was pink and Danny cast around for a change of subject.

"Sam? Are you alright?" She nodded with a big smile.

"You?"

"Fine." He replied, grinning sheepishly. "Just promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"Don't date a soul sucker ever again!"


	6. Ghost Tracker

**Description: When everything goes too far, what happens to Danny Fenton? Please don't flame, it's just adepressing idea that popped into my head all of a sudden today. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.**

Ghost Tracker 

_Buzz, buzz, buzz. BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ! _Cried the alarm clock. Danny moaned and swung at his bedside table to hit the snooze button. _BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ! _It continued buzzing at him like an angry bee.

Darn Jazz! She'd moved it to his dresser again, so he'd actually have to get out of bed to turn it off. It was one of her theories; if you have to get up to turn off the alarm in the morning, you're more likely to go ahead and get up. Unfortunately for Danny, this one was true. By the time he'd slid out of bed and went to his dresser to turn it off, his body was up and ready to go, even though his mind wasn't.

Danny sighed and pulled a random pair of jeans and a T-shirt out of his messy dresser drawers. Even though she knew full well that he had been out, fighting ghosts, until two in the morning, Jazz still felt like it was important that he got up a six o'clock.

After getting dressed, Danny dragged a brush through his hair, without really looking at it, and tromped downstairs for breakfast. His sister was sitting at the table, looking wide awake and eager for a new day. He glared at her for a moment and then plopped down at the table and reached for the cereal box. He poured some cereal and then looked around for the milk, still feeling groggy. He poured milk without paying attention and would've spilled it without his mother's warning.

"Danny!" she scolded. "Watch what you're doing, you almost spilled the milk!" The toast on the counter behind her popped, and two blackened pieces of toast popped out of it, along with a copious amount of smoke.

_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!"_ Went the smoke detector. Maddie grabbed a dishtowel and started fanning it. _Beep, beep, beep, beep, be--_ It stopped and Maddie dropped her arms to her side and turned to face the teens. Well, teen, because Danny had vanished.

Danny was in the living room, jamming books into his backpack. Thankfully, it was quieter in here and there were no loud noises to jar him as the alarm and smoke detector had. He had a good reason for being jumpy, though. His parents were, once again, working on the ghost tracker and every time they came near him, it went haywire. Danny knew, sooner or later, his mom would realize the machine was in perfect working order, which would lead to awkward questions. With that depressing thought in mind, Danny continued to stuff books into his bag until it was at breaking point. Stupid sophomores had WAY more homework than freshmen had.

_Ding dong!_ The doorbell rang and Danny jumped. He pulled open the door and for his two best friends, goth Sam Manson and techno geek Tucker Foley.

"Ready to go, Danny?" asked Sam. He started to reply, but was cut short by an excited shout from his mother, who was still in the kitchen, along with the hated _Ping, ping, ping!_ of the ghost tracker.

"Jack! There's a ghost reading in the living room!" she exclaimed.

"Yep, definitely ready to go!" The three sophomores made a mad dash for the door. It had just closed behind them when they heard Jack's disappointed voice.

"Aww, there's no ghost!"

The teens exchanged glances and started walking down the sidewalk in silence. They took their time because school didn't start for another thirty minutes. Maybe today, for once, they would be on time.

_Duh duh dum, duh duh dum, duh duh dum dum dum!" _Sang Tucker's PDA, breaking the peace. Danny shot him a look.

"Sorry." Tucker apologized, pulling it out of his pocket and stopping the ring. "I don't know why it did that." The screen went blank and then a face appeared on it.

"I am Technus, lord of technology!" cried the ghost. "You shall taste defeat!" He went intangible and shot out through the screen. Sam and Tucker blocked Danny from view of anyone who might happen to pass by, and he went ghost. Black hair changed to white and blue eyes to shocking green and he shot up into the air. Danny sighed, just one more thing to make his day harder.

"Hey, Technus!" he shouted. "I thought you didn't shout your motives to the sky anymore!" The ghost looked momentarily confused and then shot at him with electric sparks. Danny dodged them easily and socked Technus in the face. He doubled over as if in pain, and then suddenly lunged at Danny, who was off his guard.

The next blast did hit him and he fell backwards into a tree, but recovered quickly. Without his technology, this ghost was a pretty weak one. Danny threw a green glowing energy ball at Technus that hit him square in the chest. He crashed to the ground and Danny hurriedly flew lower and sucked him into the thermos. He transformed back to a human and dropped to the ground, landing neatly on his feet. Sam looked at her watch.

"Uh, oh!"' she said. 'We'd better hurry, class starts in two minutes!" They all three broke into a sprint, hoping to make it to school in time. They reached the door and yanked it open.

_Brinnngg!_ No such luck. They slipped inside quietly, hoping to get to class without anyone, particularly Lancer, noticing their tardiness. They didn't meet a soul in the entrance hall, so they hurried to their lockers, all of which were next to each other, to get their books, or put books in. Dash crept up behind them and held an air horn inches from Danny's ear.

_Bwahhhn!_ The noise was so loud, and so close that Danny nearly jumped out of his skin. Dash laughed cruelly.

"You're late to class, losers!" he announced loudly.

"Why do you care?" Danny mumbled, not wanting to get into a fight with the football star this early in the morning.

"I care," Dash returned. "Because Lancer made me the hall monitor this morning."

"And why would you want to be?" Tucker asked laughingly. "Only nerds like being hall monitor!"

"You would know." Sneered Dash. "But no, actually it's because I get out of the first ten minutes of every class to torment people who are late. And since Fentonia is always late…"

Danny pushed past Dash a started towards his class. Dash grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him back against the lockers with a _bang, _his feet dangling almost a full foot off the floor.

"Hey! You need a tardy slip!" he growled menacingly. Danny's eyes flickered green and Sam and Tucker exchanged a worried look. A change came over Dash's face and he looked unexplainably furious. He lifted Danny higher off the floor.

"Let…go…of…me." Danny said, trying to keep his voice level. Dash's forehead creased and he swung and hit Danny hard in the nose. He slammed the smaller boy against the lockers again and yelled as if possessed by some demon creature.

Tucker grabbed Dash's arm and jerked him backwards, only to be hit in the eye and fall to the floor.

"Dash! Stop!" Sam yelled. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away, but he swung around and slapped her in a blind rage and she staggered. When he turned back to his prey, he found he was clutching nothingness. He turned back around and saw Danny Phantom floating in front of him.

"Don't touch her!" the ghost boy practically roared. He punched the other boy as hard as he could and Dash fell back, cupping his hand under a bloody nose.

"You'll pay for that!" He grabbed Danny, who, taken by surprise, didn't go intangible. Soon, it was Danny Fenton and Dash trading blows again; Danny was too low on energy to stay in ghost form. The crashing and banging mixed with Sam's screams of "Stop! Stop!" brought the teachers out of their classrooms, followed by students who formed a circle around the two fighting boys.

Eventually, the teachers managed to separate Dash and Danny, and only then did Dash realize what had happened.

"Ghost!" he yelped, jumping to his feet and running off down the hall, screaming, followed by Mr. Lancer.

Ten minutes later, Danny was in the office with his parents, Sam and Tucker and a very angry principal who was giving him a very angry speech. Dash had refused to stay in the same room with him and was in the nurse's office, taking some medicine to calm his nerves.

"That was the worst fight in the history of this school!" yelled the principal. "Now, not only is there locker vandalism and a fight on our hands, but we have our star quarterback convinced that you can turn into a ghost!" Danny winced at the last part and gave his friends a helpless look. Tucker was sporting a black eyeSam had Ziploc bag of ice held up to her cheek. Justthe sight of itgave Danny another surge of anger.

"Wait, whoa!"' Maddie stopped the principal mid-rant. "What's this about turning into a ghost?" At that moment, something in her pocket vibrated, giving off the alarm Danny had been fearing all morning. P_ing, ping, ping!_ Oh, yes, _perfect _timing! Maddie pulled out the ghost detector and inspected it. She looked up at Danny like he was a freak.

"I thought," she said slowly. "That this has been malfunctioning all along. It hasn't, has it?" Danny shook his head. He transformed into a ghost and everyone but Sam and Tucker gasped. They were all staring at him like he was an experiment gone terribly wrong.

He couldn't live like this, with them all thinking he was a freak of nature. He flew up out of his seat and the principal, even his parents backed away. He floated over to Sam and Tucker, who looked like they knew what was going to happen.

"I have to go." He whispered. He kissed Sam's forehead and touched Tucker's shoulder momentarily before going intangible and flying through the ceiling.

They never saw him again.

**A/N: Yeah, I know that's not really in the character of Maddie, but I was felling really depressed and so I had to get it out. Just don't flame at me please.**


	7. Graveside Graduation

**Description: When Sam loses everything, will she go over the edge?**

**Dedication: All you guys out there that love angst, this story is for you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, (Which is so sad.) Butch Hartman does.**

Graveside Graduation

Sam Manson stood in line, waiting to go forward and accept her high school diploma. She looked out over the crowd and sighed.

So much had happened since she had started high school four years ago. The biggest life changing that had happened was, obviously, Danny gaining ghost powers, but there were so many other things that had changed Sam's life since then. At the end of ninth grade, she had started dating Danny, finally admitting that she liked him as more than a friend. Then, over the summer, Valerie had discovered Danny's secret. Instead of revealing him or trying to destroy him, she had actually helped him; she started hunting other ghost in Amity Park with Danny and his job had become a good deal easier. By the time school started up again, Valerie was dating Tucker and Sam and Danny were still together.

As sophomores and juniors, they had all four looked at different colleges and scholarships together, with occasional help from Jazz Fenton. Sam slowly started to become friends with Valerie, for the first time in her life, having an actual girl friend to talk to. Sam had tutored Danny and Tucker when they failed to understand Trigonometry and, as always, the four friends had saved the town from ghost threats.

When they started senior year, Sam had been terrified at the prospect of moving towards the future. She was afraid that they would all go their separate ways after high school and never see each other again. Danny had suggested a pact, swearing that they would stick together, no matter what. Sam felt a little better, but she still worried.

On her eighteenth birthday, they had planned to go on a double date; Danny and Sam, Tucker and Valerie. At the last minute, Tucker and Val had canceled, leaving Danny and Sam alone. That was the night Danny proposed to her. He had looked so nervous, but she didn't even have to think about it. She said "yes" immediately and he had given her a gorgeous ring set with an amethyst stone in the middle with two onyx stones on either side.

"Star Evans." Said Mr. Lancer. Star collected her diploma from him, shook his hand and walked off the huge outdoor stage.

Sam's parents were less than thrilled. They swore up and down that he only wanted her money. He was an irresponsible boy who was never on time for anything and never gave back to the community. There had been a huge row. In the end, Sam had left the house with a suitcase, her father's promise that she would never be part of his family again ringing in her ears. She had moved in with Valerie and gotten a job at Hot Topic in the mall to make enough money to pay for essentials.

"Tucker Foley." Read Lancer and Tucker went forward and received his diploma. Sam felt hot tears prickle in her eyes and rubbed her eyes. Danny should've been before Tucker, but of course, he wasn't.

Only two weeks ago, Sam had been planning her wedding with Jazz and Valerie and now she was on the verge of breaking down and sobbing in the middle of her graduation ceremony.

"Sam Manson." Her name rang out, jerking her from her thoughts. She slowly crossed the stage and took her diploma from Lancer with a trembling hand. She looked up at his and saw sympathy in his eyes. He shook her hand and nodded to her as she moved off stage.

After the last student of the class of 2008 had received her diploma (Paulina) the teens all walked back down the aisle, the haunting melody of Pomp and Circumstance floating after them. When they were announced the class of 2008, no one threw up their hats as was tradition. They all pulled off their graduation robes over their heads and headed to their cars.

Sam climbed into the back of the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle behind Tucker, Valerie and Jazz. She buckled in and stared out the window as they started to move, following a long black hearse. Out the back window, she could see the line of cars following them and bit back a sob. Valerie touched her arm comfortingly, but Sam pulled away.

This was not how this was supposed to happen. Danny was supposed to be sitting next to her, asking her what kind of invitations she wanted to send for their wedding, not in the back of a hearse, casualty of a brutal ghost battle. The subdued looks on every face in the RV weren't supposed to be there. It wasn't fair!

The procession came to a halt in Amity Park's cemetery and Sam was the first one out, though not entirely sure her legs would support her. The whole group gathered around the open grave as the horrible black casket was pulled out of the back of the hearse. Tucker, Dash, Kwan, Jack, Tucker's father and Valerie's father were the pallbearers.

Now, not only was the entire class of 2008 present, but so was most of the town. Jazz, Valerie, Tucker and Sam had agreed that Jack and Maddie needed to know their son had been the ghost boy who constantly saved the town. Jack and Maddie, in turn, had decided that the town needed to know this. Now everyone was here, to pay homage to the teenager who had done so much to help them.

As the casket was lowered into the ground, Sam began to sob in earnest, tears streaming down her face. Jazz tried to comfort her, but she shoved her away, turned and ran. Sam had no idea where she was going, but she kept running, her tears blurring the path.

At long last, she fell to the ground, her breath coming in gasps. She looked up and saw that she was lying on the steps of Danny's house. She stood up and climbed the steps to the front door. She still had a key. She slid it noiselessly into the lock and crept inside, closing the door silently behind her.

Almost as if she had been giving instructions, Sam dropped the key back into her pocket and made her way into the kitchen. The first thing she saw was a small stainless steel knife laying on the countertop. On sudden impulse, she snatched it up and made her way down to the basement, clutching it.

The basement lab looked the same as it had always looked, she didn't know if she had expected anything different. She moved slowly to the far wall and pressed the button that opened the ghost portal. The heavy metal doors slid open and the darkened room was washed in green light.

Sam dropped to her knees in front of it and stared into the swirling mists for a full minute before she seemed to come to herself. She knew she couldn'thandle her lifeanymore. She had nothing. She had no home;feeling like she could only intrude on Val's hospitality for so long.Her family didn't love her and the only one who truly loved her was dead. Why keep going?

Sam lifted the knife to examine it and the green light shimmered across the blade. Her tears were flowing freely again.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered. She held the blade against her wrist and pressed it down hard as she pulled it across her skin. Red droplets of blood oozed together into a thin, but deep cut. Blood trickled down her arm to her elbow and she watched, transfixed, already beginning to feel lightheaded. It didn't take long before she was lying on the floor, her breathing slowing. Sam gave one last sigh and died.

Her spirit floated over her body and observed it for a moment. She heard someone rushing down the stairs and Jazz appeared at the bottom of them. She ran over to Sam's body and Sam moved towards the portal, her soul longing to cross it. So she did.

Danny was just on the other side, looking like he always had when he turned into Danny Phantom. He took her hands and she smiled at him.

Jazz looked up from the goth girl's body, her eyes filled with tearsand saw Danny and Sam in the portal, holding hands. They looked at her and grinned, waving goodbye before the portal closed. But Jazz knew she would see then again.

**A/N: Sorry for being so depressing, but I had to put then together in the end!Okay, how was it? Please R&R! **


	8. The Phantom of Casper High

**A/N: M'kay, this is to replace the chapter of "Ghosthunting" that is not entirely finished and that I don't have enough time to type up. Most sincere apologies and ice cream cones to all "Ghosthunting" reviewers and any of the oneshot reviewers too! (By the way, I have seen this musical on Broadway, but I don't have access to a script and I don't remember all the lines and things, so I'm improvising, using the newest version of the movie. Sorry in advance for that!) I don't have the movie at this time either (tear) but I remember it better.**

**Description: When Mr. Lancer organizes a school play, everyone tries out, but no one expects the lead roles to go to who they do! DxS. Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, because I am not Butch Hartman. I don't own the ALW version of "Phantom of the Opera" either, just borrowing from Andrew Lloyd Webber.**

**Dedication: This is dedicated to anyone who has ever tried out for/been in a school play. Kudos to you all!**

The Phantom of Casper High

"Auditions for the musical _The Phantom of the Opera_ will be held after school today in the auditorium." Said the voice over the Casper high intercom, finishing the morning announcements. "Have a nice day!"

"Oh!" squealed Paulina. "I love _Phantom of the Opera_! Maybe I should try out for Christine?"

"Definitely!" cried her 'friend', Star. "You'll have no competition at all!"

Sitting three tables behind them were Sam, Danny and Tucker. A few moments after Star's last sentence, Tucker groaned and banged his head on the hard surface, for no apparent reason.

"What's with you?" Danny asked, coming out of his Paulina-induced trance to look at his friend. In answer, Tucker pointed at Sam. She was sitting up straight, with her chin pulled in and a stubborn glint in her amethyst eyes. "Oh."

"Really?" Sam said loudly. "She'll have no competition? Because, I was thinking of trying out for Christine too."

"Well that makes it even less of a competition." Paulina replied, nastily. "You have no chance against me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sam said in mock anxiety. "I forgot; you choked in the last school musical, didn't you?" The grin slid from Paulina's face and she glared at the goth girl angrily. "Yeah, I definitely have no chance against you!"

"That was eighth grade!" she snapped. "And I didn't choke; I just got a sore throat while I was onstage. They didn't give me 100-percentpure, bottled spring water like I asked!"

"Poor baby." Simpered Sam, unconvincingly. "See ya at auditions." The bell rang and there was a mad dash for the door. Danny, Sam and Tucker were the last ones out, so they hurried to their lockers, not wanting to be late to Mr. Lancer's English class. When they reached their lockers, Tucker turned to face Sam.

"I can't believe that you're going to audition against Paulina!" he exclaimed, jiggling the lock, trying to get his locker open. "You know Lancer's gonna pick her." Sam raised an eyebrow and he tried to rectify his statement. "Not that she's better than you, she just more…" He stopped for a moment, distracted by his lock, which wouldn't open for him.

"Tuck, quit while you're behind." Danny said sagely. He spun Tucker's lock and the locker sprang open. Tucker looked at him for a second, and then switched out his books. "But I'm surprised you're auditioning too. I thought you hated to do that stuff." They started down the hall to Lancer's classroom.

"Well," she answered, putting her arms around Danny and Tucker's shoulders. "I'm not auditioning alone."

The last bell of the day rang, long and loud and students poured out the front doors, eager for freedom. Others, however, stayed behind to go to the auditions. Not all of them were staying to try out; word of Sam challenging Paulina for the leading role had spread around the school and lots of them just wanted to see it.

Danny and Tucker followed Sam dutifully to the auditorium and took seats near the back. More students came in, chatting about weekend plans and other things. It wasn't until three o'clock that everyone took seats and fell silent. Mr. Lancer appeared on the stage with a packet of scripts.

"Welcome to auditions for the hit Broadway musical, _The Phantom of the Opera_!" he said. "I wish you all the best of luck, so let's get started!" He passed out scripts to everyone, sending out the rather significant group of onlookers and took to the stage once more.

"I'm going to call your name and you come up and read from the script." He continued. "After everyone has done that, we'll move onto singing."

"_Singing_?" Danny hissed. "We have to _sing_?"

"It is a musical." Sam pointed out. "Now, shhh!"

"We're going to start with boys, on page 2 as the auctioneer." Instructed Lancer. "Dash Baxter, you're up first." He took a seat in the front row as Dash climbed up onto the stage.

"Auctioneer raps gavel here we have an item discovered in the vaults of the theater a music box in the shape of a barrel monkey dressed in per-si-an robes" he took a great breath of air and started again. "Still in working ord--"

"That's enough, Dash!" Lancer cut him off. In the back of the auditorium, Sam, Danny and Tucker were trying hard to contain their laughter.

"Did he say the stage directions?" chuckled Tucker. Sam nodded, but seemed unwilling to open her mouth, for fear of bursting into a laughing fit.

"Per-si-an?" She whispered, finally gaining control of herself as Dash took his seat. They fell silent as the next few boys went, all doing better than Dash. Then it was Danny's turn.

"Danny Fenton!" Lancer said. Danny went up to the stage nervously and Sam flashed him a thumbs-up from the back of the room. Suddenly, he wanted to do perfect, for some, unexplainable reason.

"Here we have an item discovered in the vaults of the theater, a music box, in the shape of a barrel monkey." Danny said, calming down as he continued. He checked the script. "Still in working order, ladies and gentlemen."

"Very good, Mr. Fenton, take your seat." Lancer said, scribbling something on his notepad. He looked down at the list of names again and Danny rushed back to his seat. Sam grinned and gave him a high-five.

"Tucker Foley?" Lancer read off, trying to keep the apprehension out of his voice. Tucker probably had the worst singing voice of everyone there, including himself. Tucker enthusiastically hurried up and read through the lines quickly. After Tucker was Kwan and then a few more boys; upperclassmen. Then it was onto the girls.

"Girls, page 13, read Christine. Paulina, you're up first." Paulina walked up to the stage and gave Lancer a smile. She opened the book to the page and read.

"When I was little girl, my father used to speak of an angel, an Angel of Music. And at night, when I went to bed, he was always there." She read flawlessly. Star clapped as Paulina sat back down and the others took their turns. Sam read well, but not as well as Paulina had, receiving an "I told you so." From Tucker, who, in turn, received a sharp pinch in the arm from her.

"Now." Lancer said, clearly more enthusiastic about this part. "Onto the singing." Several people shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. "Buys will sing from "Music of the Night' and girls will sing from 'Think of Me'."

Dash took the stage and sang with such off-key horror, that it could only be compared to Tucker's singing. Everyone plugged their ears and waited until he had finished before feeling truly safe from his awful voice.

"Danny Fenton." Lancer read, silently praying Danny could sing better than Dash. Hesitantly, and with some persistence from Sam, Danny got to the stage. This was much more nerve-wracking than reading lines, for him. He checked the script and sang along with piano surprisingly well. Dash muttered something about cheating as Danny sang, not entirely certain why he was getting the looks he was getting.

In the back row, Sam and Tucker were sitting, watching him, with their mouths hanging open. Tucker looked over at Sam, who was still staring at Danny in a sort of delighted shock.

"Did you know he could sing that well?" he asked, already knowing her answer, but wanting to here it anyway. She shook her head.

"I didn't think he could sing at all, he was the only person, besides me,who didn't try out for any school musicals until this year." She whispered in a dazed voice.

"Excellent job, Mr. Fenton!"' Lancer said enthusiastically. He started scribbling furiously on his notepad and Danny took the opportunity and speed walked back to his seat, breaking into a run half way there. He sank into his seat to avoid curious looks, but turned to discover he was receiving them even from his best friends.

"Next up, Tucker Foley!" Called Lancer. Tucker climbed onto the stage and sang, as horribly as was expected and went back to his seats. The rest of the auditions were uneventful, besides Paulina's cracking on the high notes in "Think of Me" and only Sam, out of all the girls, hitting every one.

"Thank you for coming to auditions and the cast list will be posted on the bulletin board in the entrance hall in the morning."

Danny, Sam and Tucker hurried to school the next morning and, luckily, didn't run into any ghost mishaps on the way. Paulina and Star were already there, pouring over the cast list. Paulina started off, giving Sam a nasty look as they past. The three exchanged glances and ran over to the board. Sam got there first and read it out loud to the two boys.

"Danny, you got the Phantom!" she exclaimed.

"Is that good or bad?" he asked. She rolled her eyes.

"That's good, you're the main character."

"I am!" he yelped, alarmed. She gave him a look.

"Do you even know the story?" Both Danny and Tucker shook their heads stupidly. "I'll tell you later." She scanned the list for Tucker's name.

"Tuck, you're the auctioneer, you don't have to sing." She read further down the list and laughed. "Ha! Paulina didn't get Christine, she's Carlotta."

"Who did get Christine?" asked Danny. Sam looked for the character name.

"I did." She said, sounding worried for some odd reason.

"That's good, though, right?" Tucker asked. "I thought you wanted to be Christine."

"Well, I…" she stopped. She was being stupid. They didn't know the play. Danny didn't know what happened at the end--Lancer probably wouldn't even insist it be real.

"I have to find Mr. Lancer!" she said, running off. Danny and Tucker watched her go, nonplussed.

"Mr. Lancer!" she called, spotting him at the end of the hall. "Mr. Lancer!"

"What is it Miss Manson?" he asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost!" Sam shook her head stupidly, waving away the comment.

"I wanted to ask you a question about--the script." She started.

"Ah yes!" he replied. "We'll start rehearsals this afternoon. We're going to do an authentic version of the musical, exactly as it would be done on Broadway." He walked off, humming to himself and left Sam standing in the middle of the hall, her heart dropping to her shoes. Danny didn't know she was supposed to kiss him in the play, although, if she admitted it to herself, she wanted to kiss Danny.

"You did not just think that Sam Manson!" she scolded herself out loud. "Stop it!"

"Stop what?" asked Danny, appearing around the corner with Tucker. "Talking to yourself again?" he teased. She managed a weak smile and walked down the hall behind them, thankful that they didn't run into Dash or Paulina on the way to class.

Sam spent the whole day worrying about how Danny was going to react to this and praying that no one commented it about it during classes. She was relieved when Lancer came over the intercom five minutes before the last bell to announce that musical practice had been canceled due to some unknown sources wreaking havoc in the auditorium.

Sam grinned, despite herself when Danny leaned forward from behind her a whispered an apologetic "Sorry." in her ear. She knew full well that he had spent their lunch period fighting ghosts, apparently destroying the auditorium in the process.

When the bell rang, minutes later, Sam jumped from her seat and dashed out the door, with a hasty goodbye to her two friends. She ran almost all the way home and slammed the door behind her, thankful, for once, that her parents didn't arrive home until late afternoon or early evening.

Sam sank slowly to the floor and put her forehead on her knees. What was she going to do? She needed advice, someone who knew Danny and who knew her and who she knew would keep a secret. She needed someone who could give her a good, logical and reasonable way of solving this problem. She needed…

"Jazz." Sam whispered into the phone. She was actually glad that Jazz had picked up; it would've taken some explaining if Danny picked up and wanted to know why she was calling Jazz. "I need your help."

"Sam?" asked the older girl sounding surprised. "Do you want to talk to Danny?"

"Shhh! No!" Sam said. "I need to talk to you."

"Well, okay, I'm always open to listen."

"But you have to promise not to tell Danny about this." There was a pause.

"Why not?" Sam could picture Jazz frowning at the other end of the phone.

"Because." Sam answered, putting emphasis on the word. "It's about Danny."

"Fine." Sighed Jazz, "Just as long as it's not serious."

"Well, Danny and Tucker and I tried out for the school musical." Sam said slowly.

"You did?" Jazz asked. "I didn't know that. Did you guys get parts?" Sam nodded and then realized that Jazz couldn't see her.

"Yeah." She stopped. She wasn't normally like this; she always was blunt and almost never beat around the bush. What was wrong with her?

"Well?" said the other. "What parts?"

"I got Christine." Sam answered.

"And Danny got…?"

"The Phantom." She muttered. Jazz still heard her and let out an audible gasp.

"No way!" She marveled. Then she paused again, as if a thought had occurred to her. "Are you going to tell him? Sam sighed.

"How?" she demanded, frustrated. "How do you tell your best friend, 'gee, we have to kiss at the end of the play.'?"

"Just like that." Jazz immediately responded. "Unless there's something more to it?"

"Well, there is…" Sam took a deep breath. "I think--I want to." Jazz murmured something under her breath that sounded oddly like "Finally!"

"Okay, here's what you do…"

Sam walked slowly to the auditorium after school the next day, taking her time and hoping that Jazz's plan would work. By some strange stroke of luck, no one had mentioned the kissing scene to Danny. Yet.

She slipped in the door quietly and sat next to Danny and Tucker near the back, trying not to draw attention to her late entrance. Tucker pinched her hard and she winced and turned to see him wearing a smug grin. Uh-oh.

"I read the script." He whispered in a singsong voice.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" she hissed, worried. He shook his head.

"That's your job, isn't it?" She smiled weakly and turned to the front to give Lancer her full attention.

"Okay people!" he started. "We're going to do a run through of the last scene just to see where you are, as suggested by my stage manager." He gestured to Jazz who had volunteered for the job to help Sam out. There was a flurry of activity as everyone hastened to get their scripts out. "So I need Raoul, the Phantom and Christine on stage, please. Starting at the top of the page."

"Danny." Sam whispered as they moved to the stage. "I have to tell you something." He glanced over at her, an odd expression on his face.

"Does it have anything to do with the musical?" he asked shrewdly. She nodded. He sighed. "I already know."

"You do?" Sam said, taken off guard. "Someone told you?"

"No, Jazz made me go see the movie with her months ago." He confessed. "I made her pretend not to know anything about it when she was on the phone with you yesterday--I was on the other line."

"Oh." she said, feeling stupid. "Then why'd you act like you didn't know the story?"

"The same reason you didn't tell me the story." He countered. "I didn't know what you thought."

"Miss Manson!" said Lancer, clearly frustrated. "Please sing your line!"

"What? Oh!" she checked the script. "'Please Raoul, it's useless.'?" There was now no time to talk, since they both had a line every few seconds so they continued reading, but giving each other looks out of the corner of their eyes. Tucker was barely containing his amusement at this little charade. Then, they were there--'the point of no return'.

"Pitiful creature of darkness." Sam wavered, trying to finish the line. "What kind of life have you known? God give me courage to show you, you are not alone." She stepped into Danny and pressed her lips to his. But it wasn't a platonic stage kiss, nor was it a "fakeout makeout" that they had shared twice. This was entirely real, she realized as he kissed her back. She didn't care that people were watching, or that Jazz and Dannyhad tricked her, or even that Lancer was calling cut. All she cared about was Danny. And that was enough.


	9. Eh?

**Description: Vlad Plasmius had his secrets, but no one expected a secret as deep and dark as this. Oneshot.**

**Disclaimer: Blah-de-blah, I don't own _Danny Phantom_, only the creative genius it took to write this.**

**Dedication: To one of my best friends, Krista. This is totally for you.**

**A/N: This is the result of something Vlad actually said in the show coupled with my lack of sleep during the past 26 hours and a caffeine high. Please understand that I have nothing against Canadians at all.**

Eh?

Zoom in on another typical day in Amity Park. Danny and his friends had been fighting ghosts all afternoon, even though it was summer. Hot and exhausted, the trio retreated to the cool of Danny's air-conditioned house. Unfortunately, they weren't alone.

"'Why hello, Daniel." exclaimed Vlad Masters, sitting quite comfortably at his kitchen table sipping lemonade. "What a surprise to see you."

"What are you doing in my house!" Danny snapped. It was the expected reaction, of course. After all, Danny's parents were at a ghost hunter's conference in Florida and Jazz wouldn't be home until late in the tomorrow from a friend's house. The three fourteen year-olds were stuck with Vlad.

"Your parents asked me to come." he answered smoothly. "They didn't think you could be alone for four whole days, especially with all the _ghosts_ in this town."

Danny scowled and stomped upstairs, to his room, followed by his two friends. He plopped down on his bed, still frowning and Sam gave Tucker a look, as if to say _Well, cheer him up all ready!_

"At least he's not Canadian." Tuck said brightly.

"What?" said Sam, nonplussed.

"What?" Danny echoed, equally confused.

"Vlad's not Canadian." explained Tucker patiently. "It couldn't get worse if he were Canadian."

Sam and Danny swapped an amused glance. Sometimes, Tucker seemed stark, raving mad. This was one of those times.

"Tuck," Sam began, teasingly. "You don't happen to be afraid of Canadians, do you?"

"Of course not!" Tucker yelled, defensively. "Them and their stupid maple leaves." He turned red and Sam and Danny laughed. "Fine! Maybe a little."

"Well, then it's good that Vlad isn't Canadian, because, you guys are staying over here with me tonight." Danny suggested. Tucker and Sam heartily agreed and made the proper phone calls to their parents. Then the three teens ordered pizza over the telephone.

It was growing dark, so they began to tell scary stories as night fell. The only one who was truly frightened by the stories was poor Tucker, but he was determined not to show it.

"And they never saw him again." whispered Sam dramatically, leaning into to Tucker's blanket-wrapped face and switching off her flashlight and throwing them into darkness.

_Ding dong!_ The doorbell rang and Tucker jumped to his feet with a cry. Sam and Danny burst into to hysterical laughter at this and they only stopped when Tucker pointed out that only people in love laughed at something for that long.

The threesome crept down the stairs to retrieve the pizza. The house was dark, and it appeared that Vlad had, thankfully, retired for the night. Slightly spooked at the quiet house, the three teenagers hurried to the door and paid for the pizzas.

Back in the dark kitchen, Sam searched the wall for the light switch. When she finally found and turned the lights on, a shadowy figure was standing in the doorway. They all jumped from surprise, but calmed down as their eyes adjusted to the light and they realized that it was just Vlad.

Vlad was wearing a sleepy look andwhite pajamas withred maple leaves on them. "What's going on down here, eh?" he asked.

Tucker let out a bloodcurdling screech and ran for the door. They heard the front door slam behind him and his screams died away, leaving and awkward silence in their wake.

"Er," Vlad hesitated. "What was that all about?"

Sam and Danny exchanged a look and then said in unison, the one word that could sum up everything: "Canadian."

**A/N: There you have it! A little strange, I know, but I hope you enjoyed it. Now just press the little blue button and leave a review, pretty please?**


	10. The Greatest Hero

**Description:** **Why does life have to be so unfair?**

**Dedication: I dunno, to all the fans that saw "Reality Trips" aka School's Out,I suppose. The story has nothing to do with it, but whatever.**

**Disclaimer: Danny, Sam, Tucker and all the other characters of Danny Phantom do not belong to me, no matter how much I wish it. (My faeries say it's against "Da Rules")**

The Greatest Hero

Tucker could feel the heat radiating from the fire, but he was helpless to do any more than just watch in horrified silence as it consumed everything. Danny and his family stood next to him, watching as the fire destroyed the support beams and their entire house crumbled inwards. They were as powerless as he.

Suddenly, Tucker realized, alarmed, that someone was missing. "Sam! She's still inside!"

The Fentons looked at him, aghast, but Danny took off towards the inferno at a run, without even realizing where his feet were carrying him.

Sam took another step back as more flaming timbers fell from the ceiling and nearly hit her. Her back touched the ghost portal and instinct kicked in. She jabbed the open button, but the portal doors remained determinedly closed. The fire was growing nearer and Sam's eyes burned from the smoke. She took a deep breath, and started to cough, choking on the ashes. The Goth girl was certain that she was going to die.

Danny appeared in front of her, in ghost form, and, at first, she thought he was a hallucination. "Danny?"

"I'm here, Sam." he said. "Don't worry." He held out his hand for hers.

"Danny!" she screamed, suddenly alert. "Watch out!" But there was no time, even for going intangible. A heavy, blazing plank dropped directly onto the ghost boy's back and he vanished in a cloud of soot.

When the dust cleared, Sam could see Danny, human Danny, trapped under the bar. She pushed at it and tried vainly to pull him free. But she just wasn't strong enough. Fire licked at her hands and she jumped back, on instinct. Now Danny was going to die with her? Why did life have to be so unfair?

Danny managed to "go ghost" and slipped out from under the beam, intangible. He grabbed Sam around the waist and, with a final burst of effort, flew them both to safety outside. He climbed unsteadily to his feet and immediately collapsed, transforming back to human just before his parents, sister and best friend rounded the corner.

The next few days were the worst the Fentons and friends ever endured. Danny was in the hospital, suffering from third-degree burns, broken ribs and a coma. Tucker, Sam and his family rarely left his bedside. Several tests came in that concerned the doctor; half-pulse and unusual scans on the teen, but he didn't bother the family with them--he knew there wasn't much hope left anyway.

After almost four days of no sleep and little food, Sam suggested that the Fentons go grab a bite in the cafeteria.

"But what about you and Tucker?" Maddie asked maternally. "Aren't you hungry?"

Sam and Tucker both shook their heads. Neither had had any appetite since Danny had been hurt. "We'll stay with Danny." Sam offered.

Finally, after much coaxing, Jazz, Maddie and Jack went down to the cafeteria. Sam and Tucker didn't speak; they just sat quietly and kept their thoughts to themselves.

Sam was the first to notice when Danny's eyes flicked open. He looked at both of them and smiled weakly. "Hey, guys." Even though he had come out of the coma, both Sam and Tucker were sure that they were reaching the end. Sam bit back her tears and smiled as best as she could.

"Danny," Sam said in a hushed voice. "I wanted to tell you--"

"Sam." he interrupted. "I already know." She took his hand and squeezed it gently. "Me too."

Sam could no longer hold back her tears and they ran down her cheeks, unstoppable.

"Danny, come on, dude." Tucker said, attempting to keep a strong face forward. He was failing miserably. "You can't just…_die_." Tears glistened in the corners of his eyes too.

Danny shook his head, eyes closed. "I'm not the one who decides how these things work out, Tuck."

"But, there's so much left that we wanted to do." protested Sam. "That _you_ wanted to do!"

"I know." Danny answered, with a touch of sadness. "But I can't."

Sam shook her head fiercely. "You're a hero. You can't die because of that. It's not fair!"

"Life's not fair, Sammy." Danny grinned, and for a moment, it seemed almost like everything would work out. "But, you know what? I still don't regret ever being a hero."

"You could have just left me!" cried Sam. "Why did you have to save me! Then you would be fine!"

"But, Sam, I already told you." he said slowly, between labored breaths. "I love you." His grip on her hand slackened and both Tucker and Sam knew they had just lost their best friend.

Sam looked at him, one last time, her vision swimming in tears. The black haired, blue eyed boy who loved the color red. Who wanted to be an astronaut. Who saved his town countless times even though he was only a kid. Who had saved her own life. The only person who had ever smiled so that Sam had to smile back. The boy who was the least selfish person she had ever met. Who had completely stolen her heart from the moment she first saw him. The greatest hero that Samantha Manson would ever know--Danny Fenton.

**A/N: Wow, now I'm depressed. You all know the drill, please R&R!**


	11. If It's Really Love

**Description: If you really love someone, you'll let them go. DxV, implied DxS.**

**Dedication: To anyone who has the pessimistic attitude towards love that I currently am trying to shake.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, just my melodramatic writings.**

**A/N: This is just me, writing as much fanfiction as my fingers can handle before they go numb. I'm on a major sugar high.**

If It's Really Love

"Hey, Danny!" Valerie's voice echoed across the school courtyard and Danny, Tucker and Sam all looked up. Danny beamed and waved Valerie over. Sam scooted over to make room, but did not withdraw the hostile stare she was giving the other girl.

Sam had good reason to be angry. Two weeks ago, she had been thinking about asking Danny to go to the school dance with her--as friends, of course--because, she knew that they couldn't be more than that. At least, she thought so. Unfortunately, Valerie had swooped in with an apparent change of heart and suggested that she and Danny could be more than friends after all. Sam didn't know what had caused the second thoughts, and she didn't care.

So now Danny and Valerie were an 'official couple' and it looked like the whole school was talking about them.

They seemed like the perfect pair, that is, when they weren't at each other's throats as Danny Phantom and Valerie the ghost hunter, even Sam had to admit. But knowing that didn't stop the ache she felt when she saw them walking down the halls, hand in hand.

At least they hadn't kissed, as far as Sam knew. She didn't know what she would do if she saw them kissing. She might actually loose it. Jeez, why did she have to fall for her best friend?

"See ya after school, guys!" Valerie said, breaking into Sam's thoughts. She waved and ran off for her next class. Sam looked at Danny suspiciously as she gathered up her books; a dull red flush was coming into his cheeks and he smiled sheepishly.

"What does she mean, she'll see us after school?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought the three of us were going to the movies."

"Yeah, well, I kinda told Val she could come along." he muttered. "If that's alright with you guys." he added quickly.

Tucker opened his mouth to speak, but Sam cut him off.

"Oh, _sure_." she said, her voice positively dripping with sarcasm. "Why shouldn't we include dear old _Val_." She threw he book bag over her shoulder and stomped off towards class, without waiting for the boys.

Danny watched her go, the hurt on his face, evident. "Why does she hate Valerie so much?" he asked his techno-geek friend.

Tucker mumbled something indistinct and then started back towards the school. Danny stared at the back of his head for a moment, as if trying to read his mind, and then followed him. Obviously, he wasn't going to get any answers from Tucker.

Sam was distracted all through her last period English class, doodling in the margins of her paper and thinking about Danny. She felt bad for being so sharp earlier, but she didn't know how else to respond. She hated Valerie!

It had taken her long enough to finally come to terms with why she hated Valerie, now she wasn't sure how to stop hating her. After all, she obviously liked Danny, and Danny liked her. If Valerie made Danny happy, then shouldn't Sam feel happy too? Wasn't that what love was? The selfless concern only for what made someone else happy? And Sam loved Danny. So she should want him to be happy. And Valerie was the girl who made him feel that way.

Having come to a decision, Sam ripped a clean sheet of paper from her notebook and began to write, in neat cursive. She filled up the whole page and signed her name at the bottom. Then she slowly folded the note into a tiny square and printed Valerie's name neatly on the outside. She stuffed the letter into her pocket and waited for the bell to ring.

The last bell of the day finally rang, ninety minutes later. Tucker and Danny walked down the hall to Sam's locker, expecting to meet her there, just as they always did. But Sam wasn't there. Deciding she may have been held up, they waited for a few more minutes. Sure enough, less than five minutes later, Sam appeared at the locker.

"Hi guys." she said, smiling weakly. Danny grinned too and shuffled his feet, wondering if she was still mad at him. Sam stuffed all her books into the locker and closed it with a bang. She turned around to see both Tucker and Danny looking at her curiously.

"So, where is Valerie meeting us?" she asked, trying to sound normal.

"At the park across the street from the movie theatre." answered Danny, looking confused. "So--you aren't mad at me for inviting her?"

Sam shook her head, almost positive she could feel her brain rattling around inside. "No. Why would I be mad?" Danny smiled again and her heart raced. She couldn't help but grin back. "Come on, let's go, or we'll be late."'

They walked to the park in silence, where they met Valerie. She hugged Danny and smiled at Tucker, before looking over at Sam, questioningly. Sam avoided her eyes and they crossed the street and went into the cool air-conditioned lobby of the theatre.

"Let's get some popcorn." Danny suggested, heading for the concessions. Tucker went with him, and Sam started to follow, but Valerie grabbed her arm.

"Sam?" she asked, hesitantly. "Did you really mean all that stuff you wrote in the note?" Sam nodded, looking over her shoulder at Danny. Valerie smiled gently and hugged Sam. Sam returned the hug, feeling rather melancholy. Danny and Tucker returned with a huge bag of popcorn and four sodas. They handed the girls their sodas and they went in to watch the movie.

Sam tried to focus on the movie, but it was too hard. She kept thinking about what she had done and wondering if it had been the right thing to do. She still didn't know.

Finally the movie ended and the credits started rolling. Sam stood up to go and saw Danny, three seats down, lean over and kiss Valerie. She felt like some one had squeezed her heart until it had burst. Valerie looked up, concerned, and Danny followed her gaze. But Sam was already gone.

Half blinded by tears she hadn't even realized she was shedding, Sam hurried out of the theatre and into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror. Already, black mascara was smudged on her cheeks and under her eyes. As quickly as she could, Sam washed of her face and looked in the mirror again. Her eyes were still red, but at least the makeup was off.

Valerie stepped into the bathroom and saw Sam at the sink. The Goth girl caught her reflection and spun around.

"Sam, I…" Valerie started.

"It's fine." Sam heard herself say. "I'm fine. I don't care." She brushed past the other girl and back out into the lobby. Tucker and Danny were waiting by the doors. Valerie followed Sam out, but didn't say anything else.

"Well," Danny said, uncertainly. "Let's go home."

"No," Sam spoke up. "I have to pick up something for my mom downtown."

"D'you want us to come…" Danny started.

"No." Sam interrupted. "I can do it alone." She turned the opposite direction and hurried off.

Danny watched her go, a scarcely detectable flicker of sadness behind his baby blue eyes. Even though he was dating Valerie, Danny still loved Sam Manson more than any other person in the world. But he knew he couldn't have her. She was his best friend and probably didn't feel the same. If he asked her now, it might ruin their friendship forever. Besides, everyone knows that nobody actually ends up with their childhood sweetheart. Right?

**A/N: Now this is me feeling rather the same as Sam right now. So please leave me nice reviews to cheer me up! **

**PS: After reading through this again, I'm wondering if it might do well as a full-length, DxS story. What'd you think? Leave some input about that in your reviews and I may make it longer.**


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